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After nearly two hours in judicial session, synod delegates affirmed the role of the classis in receiving ministers of Word and sacrament into membership. 

After nearly two hours in judicial session, synod delegates affirmed the role of the classis in receiving ministers of Word and sacrament into membership.

The ruling was a response to a complaint filed by three individuals from New Brunswick Classis who said the classis did not properly apply Scripture in the examination and reception of the Rev. Dr. Ursula Cargill from another denomination. Cargill has historically publicly identified as homosexual.

Synod ruled to affirm the decision of the Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics, which affirmed the action of New Brunswick Classis in receiving Cargill into membership.

Because the matter was filed as a procedural complaint against an assembly and not as a charge against an individual, neither the synod nor the Commission on Judicial Business (CJB) was provided with evidence about Cargill’s lifestyle. On questions of whether she is celibate or “practicing,” the CJB report noted that in RCA polity the “classis is charged with the supervision of its enrolled ministers and is the only assembly in close enough relationship with each individual minister to make definitive judgments concerning character and morality.

“It is only the local classis that is fully capable of discerning the theology, life, and moral character of a particular minister so as to determine whether he or she is fit for ministry. By the time a judicial case reaches the General Synod it is often so far removed from the facts on the ground that the prospect of supplanting the reasoned view of a local classis with our own determination is troubling.”

In presenting the CJB report to delegates, commission member Jonathan Gundlach said the seven voting members of the commission hold differing perspectives on the subject of same-sex relationships. Yet, they were unanimous in affirming that procedural requirements were followed.

“Our recommendation is not a moral affirmation of the position of New Brunswick on the matter,” Gundlach told delegates. “Several on the commission would not want to affirm the position. The decision is rooted in our polity.”

An amendment offered by Clyde Bradley of Illinois Classis to CJB’s original recommendation proved helpful to delegates who struggled to reconcile the judicial procedure with the RCA’s stated position that homosexual practice is sinful and contrary to Scripture. Bradley’s amendment added to the recommendation, “This affirmation only affirms that the Regional Synod of the Mid-Atlantics followed the procedural requirements of the Book of Church Order.”

Delegates approved the amended recommendation 134-77.